flipBivouac Ration: Hardtack, Dried Beef, and Camp Tea
Bivouac Ration: Hardtack, Dried Beef, and Camp Tea
Why this dish? During months of triangulation, Everest and his officers lived under canvas, moving a 500 kg great theodolite from station to station. Far from any settlement, they subsisted on provisions that would not spoil: ship's biscuit, dried meats, and the inevitable strong tea that punctuated the trigonometric calculations.
The surveyor's meal on the march: a twice-baked wheat biscuit, hard as stone, softened in an infusion of boiling tea, accompanied by strips of salted, dried beef. Frugal, portable, indestructible.
Know, Sir, that a man charged with measuring a continent has no leisure for fine dining. Under canvas, in forty degrees or under the monsoon, my daily fare was reduced to this hard biscuit, which one dips in tea until it deigns to be chewed, and a few slices of dried beef. I insisted it be boiled thoroughly, for the water here is not safe — a sick officer does not man his theodolite. Believe me, after twelve hours of sightings, this meager meal was worth all the feasts of London.
- •Ship's biscuit (hardtack) — 2 per man (preservable starch)
- •Salted dried beef — a handful (durable protein)
- •Indian black tea — as much as needed (beverage, softens biscuit)
- •Boiled water — as needed (sanitary safety)
- •Cane sugar — one lump (energy, taste)
Bivouac Ration: Hardtack, Dried Beef, and Camp Tea
The surveyor's meal on the march: a twice-baked wheat biscuit, hard as stone, softened in an infusion of boiling tea, accompanied by strips of salted, dried beef. Frugal, portable, indestructible.
Why this dish? During months of triangulation, Everest and his officers lived under canvas, moving a 500 kg great theodolite from station to station. Far from any settlement, they subsisted on provisions that would not spoil: ship's biscuit, dried meats, and the inevitable strong tea that punctuated the trigonometric calculations.
Know, Sir, that a man charged with measuring a continent has no leisure for fine dining. Under canvas, in forty degrees or under the monsoon, my daily fare was reduced to this hard biscuit, which one dips in tea until it deigns to be chewed, and a few slices of dried beef. I insisted it be boiled thoroughly, for the water here is not safe — a sick officer does not man his theodolite. Believe me, after twelve hours of sightings, this meager meal was worth all the feasts of London.
Ingredients (period version)
- Ship's biscuit (hardtack) — 2 per man (preservable starch)
- Salted dried beef — a handful (durable protein)
- Indian black tea — as much as needed (beverage, softens biscuit)
- Boiled water — as needed (sanitary safety)
- Cane sugar — one lump (energy, taste)
Ingredients
- Wheat flour — 250 g (base for biscuit)
- Water — 100 ml (binder)
- Salt — 1 tsp (seasoning and preservation)
- Dried beef (bresaola or unsweetened jerky) — 80 g (protein)
- Assam or Darjeeling black tea — 2 tea bags (hot beverage)
- Sugar — to taste (sweeten tea)
Method
- Mix flour, salt, and water to form a firm, dry dough, with no leavening.
- Roll out to 1 cm thick, cut into squares, prick with a fork.
- Bake at 160°C for 30 minutes, then flip and bake another 30 minutes until completely hard and dry.
- Let cool and harden overnight in the open air.
- Steep a very strong black tea, sweeten.
- Serve the biscuit to dip in the hot tea, with dried beef strips on the side.
How it was made : Ship's biscuit was twice-baked to drive out all moisture: thus it kept for months without molding, essential for a traveling expedition. Men dipped it in tea, soup, or water to be able to eat it without breaking their teeth.
The contemporary twist : Serve the biscuit on a board with a spoonful of mango chutney: the contrast of hard and soft, dry and sweet, tells the story of the Survey all by itself.
George Everest · Charactorium
